It’s no secret that the Eastern Cape is suffering from one of the most devastating droughts of recent history. Jacki Bilsbury from the Walmer area had a laugh when she read a local newspaper article about pool water theft. She’s not laughing now.

Just two days after reading how Haydn van der Walt from Kamma Heights had his pool water drained when the family left the house for a few hours, Bilsbury also became a victim.

I killed myself laughing when I read the report. Who has water stolen out of their pool? I think God was watching me and thought He would show me a thing or two. I didn’t think it would happen to me. You don’t see it coming.

Atlas Security Systems’ Monty Montgomery said that pool water theft had increased and that:

Opportunistic criminals continue in their inventive ways and, in this case, will arrive outside your wall and feed a hose-pipe to your swimming pool and pump the water out.

In most instances, they will use a hand-pump, not a generator-powered pump, owing to the noise factor.

Pastor Dannie du Plessis also recounted that thieves robbed him twice in October last year taking about 10 000 litres each time. “They sell it. It’s a perfect crime because how do you identify your water?”

Residents have been urged to keep a lookout for suspicious looking bakkies and trucks driving around at night with water tanks.

How does one prosecute this?

[Source: TimesLive]